A tape from 1997! Hot97 FM with Red Alert and Funkmaster Flex

Science dropped by Martini & Jopparelli. May-09-2008

Here’s antother bunch of good memories from the past… This cassette tape was recorded back in 1997 from Hot 97 FM radio in New York by our fellow DJMP45. Side A was Red Alert, side B was Flex. I ripped the tape into an 1h 15” mp3…

Of course the sound quality is not excellent (but not bad after all) and the tape has a few interruptions, as DJMP45 pressed the pause button when he didnt like the music (yes, he was already selecting stuff). Basically the two parts are very different if you put attention to the tunes, but i chose to keep them togheter to keep the spirit of that old cassette alive. Those old cassettes were always a mess, you used to have different recordings overlapping each other on the same tape, remember that?

The Red Alert part is based on the music that was coming out in 1997: stuff like Busta, Mase, Beatnuts, Big L and some unidentified freestyles over the most popular instrumentals of that age… not bad but the best part comes after this one…

The Funkmaster Flex part, from about 30′ from the beginning, is all about the classics, the kind of stuff that we can’t never get enough. I don’t even mention the titles because if you follow this blog you already know what kind of hip hop we’re down with. Golden age stuff. The notable thing here is that you can hear Flex at his best. He was truly a monster, check the style. When he pull-ups “Time 4 Sum Aksion” over and over (ever heard his “Time-Time for some ac-for some action, Time-time…”? That was one of his trademark routines), you wish he never stops.

i remember when i recorded this show that flex was sick…in the original meaning…flu and stuff…and the same night i went to see him playing in a club…but wasnt great as this….i still got loads of tape at home…maybe it’s time for you guys to digitize them!

The east coast rocks…I have a bunch of tapes from late 90s, but I also got the crazy 80s tapes when it was WBLS and Kiss FM (with Gremlin voice skits and Tears for Fears Shout cut-ups.) They’re back in the UK :(

I’m recording Power 106 FM mixes here in Los Angeles as the Wake-Up Show (Sway & King Tech) are back on the air. Do u wanna post these? Mostly old skool.

Here’s a short version of my love of mixtapes. When I was in school in England in the 80s I discovered hip-hop/electro through “Wildstyle” the film soundtrack and the “Electro” series of compilations released by Morgan Khan’s Streetsounds label. The kids in school were ultra competitive and traded tapes like currency. I got given WBLS (Mr. Magic and Marley Marl) and Kiss FM (Red Alert and Chuck Chill Out) mixtapes which I thought were the bomb until I got given a few WHBI Afrika Islam tapes! :)

The most memorable moments have to be the customized skits that Kiss FM had. Imagine the Gremlins voice saying “Kool DJ Red Alert goes bezerk….yeeyeyeyeyeyey”. And cut and scratched over a def tune?! That was original and can never be surpassed. Basically, Red Alert pressed a dubplate just to mash up WBLS. I made my first trip to NYC in 1988 and took my little radio-recorder with me so I could bring back tapes, but it wasn’t until my sister moved to Manhattan that my collection got larger in the late 90s.

I’m on the west coast now and have been recording Power 106, a commercial station in Los Angeles. It has it’s crazy moments like Thanksgiving mixes made up of 106 hours of commercial-free radio. But just like back in the 80s, with some much time to fill tunes on rotation get sooo stale. Today I keep my MP3 recorder on stand-by waiting for classic radio music moments. But I’m still sore that I was in my car one evening and totally missed a DJ’s 30 minute b-boy break session: “Take Me To The Mardi Gras”, “Apache”, “Cavern”…all the big tunes! I almost got a minidisc recorder (remember those?) put in my car so I could record wherever I am!

Sharing the love: when I’ve edited the a few radio shows I’ll share it on your blog.

Word up Kid!! I went to NY in 94, and I stayed in State Street Brooklyn.
While I was there I Bought a boom box, as soon as I turned it on Flex was on, I hit record, and I got the phattest tape I’ve ever herd, but ova the years I lost them. I just want to say so much for posting this. I’m gona jam this in my jeap worrddddd!!